Stitch chain cutters for sewing machines are well known in the art. Typical of the numerous patents which illustrate various types of stitch chain cutters are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,143,987; 3,541,984; 3,624,734; 3,749,040; and 4,332,209. These patents all utilize suction for withdrawing the thread after it is cut and include one movable cutter blade which moves in a cutting operation against a fixed cutting blade. The movable cutting blade is adjusted with a relatively high-contact pressure against the fixed cutting blade and this high-contact pressure results in rapid wear and dulling of the blades.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,149,594 discloses a stitch chain cutter including a movable blade which is operated by a linkage connected to the feed dog and U.S. Pat. No. 3,242,892 discloses a cutter blade which is carried by the feed dog. However, the movable cutter blades illustrated in these two patents are not provided with means to adjust the cutting position and the contact pressure between the movable and fixed blades, and as a result, the cutting blades are subject to rapid wear and dulling.